"I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities — I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.' I thought: 'So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?' I thought: 'I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities, but that pleasure is not easy to achieve with a body so extremely emaciated. Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.' So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five monks had been attending on me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking some solid food — some rice & porridge — they were disgusted and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.'

alan... wrote:Where the buddha is starving and is fed rice by a woman named sujata. Where is this from?

the cronological story of the Enlightenment is in the Vinaya also.I know there is a translation of it available here.

This offering maybe right, or wrong, but it is one, the other, both, or neither!Blog,-Some Suttas Translated,Ajahn Chah."Others will misconstrue reality due to their personal perspectives, doggedly holding onto and not easily discarding them; We shall not misconstrue reality due to our own personal perspectives, nor doggedly holding onto them, but will discard them easily. This effacement shall be done."

alan... wrote:is the story of the woman feeding him rice in the commentaries or in the Canon?

Here is a version of the episode which later receives elaboration:

MN 36 wrote:...Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.' So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five monks had been attending on me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking some solid food — some rice & porridge — they were disgusted and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.'

"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana...

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]

alan... wrote:is the story of the woman feeding him rice in the commentaries or in the Canon?

Here is a version of the episode which later receives elaboration:

MN 36 wrote:...Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.' So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five monks had been attending on me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking some solid food — some rice & porridge — they were disgusted and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.'

"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana...

okay thanks that's what I thought I saw a movie about the Buddha and the Rice story was in it with the woman and I could not remember if it was in the Canon or not. I looked through "the life of the Buddha according to the pali canon "and could not find the story so I was wondering where it came from.

the references to names appear to be mostly to commentarial material. [Similarly, in the Vinaya text that Cittasanto referred to, the name is only in footnotes, with references to commentary.] One of the references given in the DPPN entry is to Jātaka (J.), but I understand that the stories there, like the Dhammpada stories, are not considered to be canonical. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about such details than me could comment.

6. Sujātā.- Daughter of Senānī, a landowner of the village of Senānī near Uruvelā. She made a promise to the god of the banyan tree nearby that she would offer a meal of milk-rice to the god if she gave birth to a son. Her wish was fulfilled, the son was born, and she sent her maid, Puṇṇā, to prepare the place for the offering. This was on the very day of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, and Puṇṇā, finding Gotama sitting under the banyan, thought that he was the tree god present in person to receive the offering. She brought the news to Sujātā, who, in great joy, brought the food in a golden bowl and offered it to him.

Gotama took the bowl to the river bank, bathed at the Suppatiṭṭhita ford and ate the food. This was his only meal for forty-nine days. J.i.68f.; DhA.i.71, etc. In Lal.334-7 (267f.) nine girls are mentioned as giving food to the Buddha during his austerities. Cf. Dvy.392, where two are given, Nandā and Nandabalā.

Sujātā’s meal was considered one of the most important of those offered to the Buddha, and the Devas, therefore, added to it divine flavours.

the references to names appear to be mostly to commentarial material. [Similarly, in the Vinaya text that Cittasanto referred to, the name is only in footnotes, with references to commentary.] One of the references given in the DPPN entry is to Jātaka (J.), but I understand that the stories there, like the Dhammpada stories, are not considered to be canonical. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about such details than me could comment.

6. Sujātā.- Daughter of Senānī, a landowner of the village of Senānī near Uruvelā. She made a promise to the god of the banyan tree nearby that she would offer a meal of milk-rice to the god if she gave birth to a son. Her wish was fulfilled, the son was born, and she sent her maid, Puṇṇā, to prepare the place for the offering. This was on the very day of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, and Puṇṇā, finding Gotama sitting under the banyan, thought that he was the tree god present in person to receive the offering. She brought the news to Sujātā, who, in great joy, brought the food in a golden bowl and offered it to him.

Gotama took the bowl to the river bank, bathed at the Suppatiṭṭhita ford and ate the food. This was his only meal for forty-nine days. J.i.68f.; DhA.i.71, etc. In Lal.334-7 (267f.) nine girls are mentioned as giving food to the Buddha during his austerities. Cf. Dvy.392, where two are given, Nandā and Nandabalā.

Sujātā’s meal was considered one of the most important of those offered to the Buddha, and the Devas, therefore, added to it divine flavours.

Mike

thanks, that's what i was looking for. i was at work using my phone to look so i couldn't open those links earlier. these things get mixed up so easily!

what about the mara story where he approaches the buddha with his armies and shoots arrows that turn to lotus flowers and all that?

i read a ton of stories where mara approaches him AFTER his enlightenment and hassles him but i don't remember that battle while he sat meditating before his enlightenment nor do i remember him having an army or the lotus flowers.

alan... wrote:what about the mara story where he approaches the buddha with his armies and shoots arrows that turn to lotus flowers and all that?

i read a ton of stories where mara approaches him AFTER his enlightenment and hassles him but i don't remember that battle while he sat meditating before his enlightenment nor do i remember him having an army or the lotus flowers.

An excellent book worth having on your book shelf is THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA by Ven Nanamoli. The armies and lotusflowers are later mythic stuff. What is found in the suttas and Vinaya is in the THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA.

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

alan... wrote:what about the mara story where he approaches the buddha with his armies and shoots arrows that turn to lotus flowers and all that?

i read a ton of stories where mara approaches him AFTER his enlightenment and hassles him but i don't remember that battle while he sat meditating before his enlightenment nor do i remember him having an army or the lotus flowers.

An excellent book worth having on your book shelf is THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA by Ven Nanamoli. The armies and lotusflowers are later mythic stuff. What is found in the suttas and Vinaya is in the THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA.

alan... wrote: I looked through "the life of the Buddha according to the pali canon "and could not find the story so I was wondering where it came from.

got it, love it. one of the best books i've ever read. glad you agree! i think if one could only have two books on buddhism it would be this and "in the buddhas words" by bodhi. both are so inclusive it's amazing.